


Unexpectedly Cursed

by The_Winter_Writer



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: (because I'm ignoring the fuck out of those two movies), (not towards Tony or Bucky), (though light on the angst fyi), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Barebacking, Bottom Tony Stark, Bucky Barnes Feels, Consensual Sex, Fingering, First Time, Fuck Or Die, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) Lives, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Maria Hill is a Good Bro, Multiple Orgasms, Mutual Pining, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Praise Kink, Protective Bucky Barnes, Riding, Threats of Violence, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Top Bucky Barnes, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, cursed Tony, get-together, protective winter soldier, random villain - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 14:22:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12411996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Winter_Writer/pseuds/The_Winter_Writer
Summary: Of course it happened to him. If anyone on the team was going to end up being the recipient of a 'fuck or die' kind of scenario it was going to be him.Let it not be said that Tony Stark did anything half way. Not even when it came to being cursed.





	Unexpectedly Cursed

**Author's Note:**

> I was trying to go with something that was purely smut without any kind of plot but somehow I accidentally veered off that path.
> 
> Tony wouldn't cooperate with me.

Tony blinked and blinked again. He was pretty sure he was _sparkling_. Twilight level sparkling and he didn’t know who the villain of the month was but he wanted to strangle him to death.

It was the least he could do for this sparkling Hell he’d found himself in.

“Sparkle, Edward, _sparkle_!” Clint was laughing so hard he’d fallen over. At least Steve was looking at him with mild concern and Bucky had slammed his attacker into the ground, securing him effortlessly, before glancing over at him.

Sharp blue-grey eyes dragged over him, from head to toe, and Tony crossed his arms defensively.

“What?”

“Do you feel any different?” it was straight and to the point. Tony arched a brow but was slightly mollified that Bucky hadn’t taken a crack about the weird glitter-glow thing he had going on.

If his suit hadn’t taken too much damage he would still be safely enclosed instead of exposed in a pair of ripped jeans and a shirt that had seen far better days. As it was he’d been forced out and the suit was a dead weight on the ground.

He thought about it, mentally cataloging all the normal aches and pains he was used to, but Tony didn’t feel anything different.

“No.” he frowned even as he lifted an arm and looked at the obvious glow. How had they gone from explosions, fire and violence to him looking like a sparkly vampire. “Why am I glittering?”

Clint opened his mouth but a disappointed look from Steve had him pouting and muttering whatever it was under his breath. Tony could tell it must have been amusing considering the laughter on Natasha’s face. Her eyes practically danced with it.

“You will.” Came a very amused voice by Bucky. “You’re going to feel _very_ different, Tony Stark.” His name had been said with disdain.

The look of smug knowing on the man’s face had Tony taking a step forward, eyes narrowed and body tense. He was getting really sick of these assholes coming into New York, fucking shit up and dragging him away from his workshop when he was in the middle of a project.

It was even worse when they seemed to have some kind of blind, unspoken hatred for him when he didn’t even know _why_ or _what_ he’d done to deserve it.

“What is that stuff?” Clint finally asked. Everyone stared at the man but he didn’t say a single word. Instead he continued to smirk as though the Winter Soldier hadn’t thrown him to the ground and wasn’t still holding onto him.

Jarvis could analyze it when he made it back to the Tower.

It was probably some powder or something. Surely it would have started working otherwise. It probably washed off.

Two days later and he had nothing.

Jarvis had nothing.

Tony shifted in his chair and grumbled at the flare of arousal that shot through him. It had been getting increasingly hard to ignore as the hours wore on and he determinedly pushed forward. He’d already ignored a charity function he’d been scheduled to attend the same night he’d been hit. “Stupid fucking body.” He muttered as he ran another algorithm and scowled as it started running on the holo-screen in front of him.

“Sir, your body temperature has been steadily increasing over the last two hours.”

“I feel fine.” Tony grumbled as he pulled up another screen, “I don’t have time to get sick. I have to figure out what I’m covered in.” because multiple showers had not rid him of the glitter-glow that he’d quickly come to hate. “And how to stop _glowing_!”

If Clint called him _Edward_ one more fucking time he was going to scream. It didn’t matter that mentally he’d already made the comparison. It was the principle of the matter.

He shifted again and groaned lowly at the increasingly tight feeling in his pants. It was getting harder to ignore but he couldn’t justify stopping his search to jerk off. That was ridiculous. He needed to focus his wandering mind and figure out what the fuck was going on.

Tony started to sweat an hour later.

“J…crank up the air conditioning.”

The silent sound of disapproval was more than evident. He didn’t need to hear Jarvis speak to feel it. Another algorithm failed and Tony snarled lowly before another jolt of arousal shot through him.

“Sir, Sergeant Barnes is requesting entry.”

Tony waved him in and turned back to the screen, shifting on his chair again and biting back a groan when the door swished open. “You haven’t come up in over fourteen hours.” A glance over revealed that one of Bucky’s hands held a plate with a couple sandwiches. The other hand held a mug of coffee.

“Tired of being called Edward.” He scrunched his nose up in annoyance, “Even if it _is_ my middle name.”

He was _not_ going to be compared to that stupid fucking vampire.

“You’re in luck then. Clint, Natasha and Steve went out on a mission.”

Tony spun around, “Why wasn’t I alerted?”

“You’re not cleared for the field.” Bucky arched a brow and Tony knew it was the stupid glow that was ever present. “It didn’t need the whole team anyway.” that explained why Bucky was still in the Tower if one super soldier went out along with two spies.

“Bruce?”

“In his lab running his own tests.”

“Thor?”

“Jane.”

Ah.

Bucky sat the plate down nearby along with the mug of coffee. Tony tried not to pull Bucky’s attention towards his increasingly annoying problem. He gritted his teeth and didn’t release the needy sound that was threatening to crawl up his throat and shatter the brief silence between them.

He must have spaced out for a moment or two because Tony was suddenly aware of two voices calling for him and strong hands framing his face: one metal and one flesh. Blue-grey eyes stared into his and Tony could see concern filling Bucky’s face as he drifted back into focus.

“Are you with me?” Bucky’s voice was low, as though he was talking to a skittish animal, and Tony groaned at the feeling of his brain trying to register Bucky’s question.

Tony blinked slowly, mind slowly coming back online and body shivering, as he focused on Bucky’s eyes. He’d always thought they were unfairly beautiful. It was worse up close and personal.

How was that color natural?

“Yeah, Bucky Bear, I’m with you.” His speech was slow and Tony frowned, shaking his head even as Bucky’s hands remained framing his face, before focusing once more on Bucky. He could feel the warmth of Bucky’s hands touching him, could smell the soap the super soldier had used recently to shower and several other scents he associated with Bucky Barnes.

It almost lulled him into that brief drifting feeling he’d been lost in before.

Bucky’s hands fell to his shoulders and Tony wondered how they would feel elsewhere. His eyes widened at the thought, he’d been doing such a good job shoving that unexpected attraction to the backburner, and now he was thinking about it with Bucky inches away.

“Sir. Agent Hill sent along information identifying the unknown substance.” There was something hesitant in Jarvis’s voice and Tony tensed. His eyes sharpened, mind forcing itself to focus, as the screen closest to him was flooded with information.

That couldn’t be right.

That was the kind of thing from TV tropes and movies.

That didn’t happen in real life. There was no way that happened in real life. Not his life dammit.

“Tony?” Bucky’s voice had him turning to stare at Bucky with wide eyes. He knew the shock on his face was more than obvious. Tony looked at Bucky’s hands still resting on him.

The hands that had touched him.

Skin to skin.

Fuck.

“What is it?”

Tony registered the increasing feeling of arousal, the way his body reacted to each brush his clothing made against his skin when he moved and the undeniable warmth he could practically feel pouring off of Bucky. It was even worse than it had been seconds before Bucky’s arrival.

He swayed forward, eyes hooded and lips parted, before he caught himself and shook his head trying to shake the feeling off.

“Tony?”

The metal hand had moved back up and cupped the side of his face. Tony leaned into the touch and sighed in resignation. He would just tell Bucky what it was, what had happened when Bucky had touched him and then he’d lock himself up until they figured something out.

Surely he could figure something out before time ran out.

“Ever heard of the ‘fuck or die’ curse?”

Bucky’s eyebrows rose, “Fuck or die? Isn’t that one of those TV tropes Clint was telling Steve and me about?”

Of course Clint would bring up TV tropes.

Next he’d have everyone calling him Edward every time he walked into the room. He’d probably force them into a Twilight marathon because he was a secret sadist and he knew Tony hated those movies.

Vampires didn’t sparkle dammit.

“It seems our… _friend_ managed to get ahold of a toy he really shouldn’t have been playing with. A kind of…cosmic prank with the potential for deadly consequences.” Tony shook his head. Why did this kind of thing have to happen to him? “Something a trickster like Loki would love inflicting a human with for fun.”

Bucky paused, brow furrowed in thought and Tony knew that Bucky had finally accepted what his mind was telling him was true by Tony’s words. Truthfully Tony was starting to have problems focusing on the complicated jargon in the report on his screen.

His brain and body were starting to scream that he desperately needed to be fucked. It was distracting at best.

Tony shoved it back even though it was getting increasingly hard to do so. “Yeah. Apparently it takes a few days for the curse to sink into its intended victim and when it does the victim has two days to have someone fuck the curse out of them or they die a slow, painful death.” He raised his hand, one finger pointing up, before he waved his hand unenthusiastically. “Yay me.”

The hand on his face seemed to spasm and the one on his shoulder briefly tightened.

“You have to find someone to have sex with or you’re going to die.” It wasn’t a question. The words came out flat, monotone and Tony winced. He was a step away from begging Bucky to bend him over the nearest surface.

“Not quite.”

Tony winced at the admission. He really, really wished he’d strangled that asshole to death. This shouldn’t be happening. He shouldn’t be putting this on Bucky of all people. It would have been better if just about anyone else on the team had touched him. Tony didn’t want to be just another person forcing something on Bucky and taking away his ability to make a choice after decades of HYDRA forcing complete compliance.

He was doing a good job pining from afar. He didn’t need some idiot fucking that up.

“What does that mean?”

The emotionless mask presented to him had Tony shrinking back, uncomfortable and guilty, as he curled his fingers in his pants. He didn’t want to say it. “It’s…the curse locks on the first person to touch the person cursed. Skin to skin contact.”

He couldn’t look up.

Why couldn’t it have been someone else?

Someone that he wouldn’t end up hating himself for?

Tony didn’t want to do this to Bucky. He couldn’t do this to him. He couldn’t do this to the one person he’d started to form a ridiculous crush on as the months rolled by. Bucky was still getting used to having the Winter Soldier showing up randomly during missions and in moments when the team was threatened.

Fucking Hell.

“I’m so fucking sorry.” His voice was uneven and Tony dug his fingers into his thighs, working to ignore the arousal and the compulsion demanding he press into Bucky. He wasn’t sure he could hate himself more for taking Bucky’s choice like this. “I didn’t know. I didn’t fucking know. I thought it was—” he cut himself off. He didn’t know what he’d thought it was.

Tony sure as shit hadn’t thought it was some bastardized version of ‘fuck or die’. Fucking _magic_ and asshole villains trying to fuck over someone trying to do good in the world instead of bad.

The hand on his cheek moved to his chin and tilted his head up so he was looking at Bucky. There was something soft and pained in those gorgeous blue-grey eyes staring at him with far too much emotion.

It should be disgust or annoyance or frustration or any number of negative emotions.

This was just another thing Bucky was going to be forced into. It was a wonder it hadn’t triggered the Soldier. “Why are you apologizing? You didn’t ask for it. You didn’t force me to touch you.”

“It’s just another way your choice is being taken from you.” He managed. Jarvis had gone silent when Tony had realized what the screen was telling him and he wished there was another voice other than his own speaking right now. Tony knew if Jarvis was still talking he would probably be going on about Tony’s temperature rising, an increase in the hormones associated with arousal and the fact that Tony’s heart was now pounding.

“You’re the one who is being forced into a situation you didn’t ask for. You _have_ to let someone fuck you or you’re going to die.” Bucky looked furious but it wasn’t at Tony. It was clearly directed at the man who had put him in this position. “It’s basically rape. You can’t really consent to it. You _have_ to have sex or you’re going to die.”

Tony jerked at the word rape and shook his head. It wasn’t. It wasn’t like that for him. He could have made a move on Bucky months ago but he hadn’t. This would give him something he had hesitated in pursuing even if only for the length of time it took for the curse to be removed.

He’d gladly, enthusiastically consent to sex with Bucky any day of the week at any time of the day and in any kind of position Bucky wanted. It was very, very unfortunate that he was essentially cursed.

This wasn’t how he had wanted to admit his ridiculous crush, if he ever did, but he couldn’t let Bucky think that. “I…” he could be far more articulate on a better day. This stupid fucking curse was destroying his ability to put his thoughts into words. A systematic destruction of his ability to communicate and Tony wanted to scream. “I’m attracted to you. For months.”

There.

He said it.

It was out in the open. No take backs.

“Me?”

Tony nodded and flushed in embarrassment. What had happened to the smooth, suave Tony Stark from the past?

Bucky pushed right into his space, lips molding against his, while the hand on his cheek moved to lightly curl in his hair. Tony’s heart stopped, his mind completely shut down at the touch of Bucky’s mouth to his own, before both started to reboot. His heart began pounding and his mind started whirling in blissful shock.

Holy shit.

Bucky Fucking Barnes was kissing him.

Mercifully he remembered to respond and his hands moved from his pants to grip Bucky’s shirt. He didn’t think as his legs spread for Bucky to press closer, settling between them, as they kissed.

It was everything he’d secretly wanted and thought he didn’t deserve in glorious full color. He could taste a hint of chocolate in Bucky’s kiss and the taste made him moan.

They broke for air and Tony swayed forward, eyes hooded and lips parted, as Bucky’s hands remained warm and firm against his overheating skin. “I wanted to do this right.” A rueful grin stole over Bucky’s handsome features. “You deserved to have it right.”

Tony thought it was completely unfair. Bucky Barnes couldn’t be real.

“I was gonna take you out on dates. Work up to something more.” Bucky gave him a sheepish look and while Tony was endeared, in actual awe that Bucky was giving him that look with obvious affection in his eyes, Tony wanted nothing more than to tear off every last layer of clothing covering both of them. “Guess I wanted to woo you more than anything. You deserve it. You deserve to have someone show you how much you mean to them.”

Fuck. He might be in love. This might not just be attraction. He might have just stumbled right into heart-stopping love. He’d been avoiding that word for his own sanity but it was impossible to ignore in the face of that.

This was a terrible time to come to that conclusion because how could he be sure it wasn’t the stupid fucking curse trying to drag him into giving in?

He had the absolute worst timing in existence.

Damn that would-be villain to Hell and back for fucking with him like this.

“Does that mean you’re interesting in doing this backwards?” his voice was edging into desperate and Tony was surprised he hadn’t ripped Bucky’s shirt where he was still vicious gripping the material. “I have a few days to figure out a way to get around it…”

That earned him another heart-stopping kiss and Tony leaned into it with a whimper he wasn’t even ashamed of making. He went completely pliant, soft and easy in Bucky’s hands, as the super soldier kissed him like it was both their first and last kiss all wrapped up into one.

 _Fucking glitter is turning me into a sap_. _A poetic sap._

“Might I suggest taking the elevator to the penthouse?” Jarvis cut in just as Tony had managed to push his hands under Bucky’s shirt to map a truly impressive line of muscles he desperately wanted to lick.

Someone released a pathetic whine and Tony realized with muted horror it was him. Bucky only chuckled, easily hefting him up into his arms and Tony wrapped his legs around Bucky’s waist not wanting an inch between them. It brought them flush together and he could feel the evidence that Bucky was just as interested as he was.

It was a relief.

They kept kissing, Bucky was clearly a marvelous multitasker, as Jarvis guided the elevator up swiftly to his floor and then Bucky was taking them out onto his floor. “Bedroom?” Bucky pulled away long enough to ask Jarvis and Tony was grateful Jarvis answered because he wasn’t sure he could.

At some point they must have made it into his bedroom because Bucky had dropped him onto the bed and started stripping away his clothing, tossing it over his shoulder without a care, until Tony was naked. He scrambled up and started tugging off Bucky’s own clothing, desperate to get at that warm skin.

“Too much clothing. Too fucking much.” He muttered and fumbled with the buttons of Bucky’s pants. It had Bucky batting his hands away and then Bucky was removing the rest of his own clothing.

Finally they were both naked. Both blissfully, mercifully naked and near a bed. Tony could have wept but instead he surged forward and crashed their mouths together. Bucky’s left arm whirred as it moved and curled around him.

Tony was achingly hard and desperate.

Seconds passed before Bucky laid him out on the bed and fumbled around in the nightstand next to the bed, pulling out a bottle of lube. “Condoms?”

“I’m clean.”

“Me too.”

That seemed to be that which was fine because Tony wasn’t sure he’d be able to stand the seconds it would take for Bucky to bother with one.

Bucky moved back onto the bed and moved him until he could press a lube slick finger against Tony’s hole. It rubbed against his rim, coating it, before it slowly started to push inside. Blue-grey eyes watched him, clearly looking for any sign of discomfort even though Tony just wanted Bucky inside him.

Now.

Right fucking now.

“Come on. Please please please.” Tony was babbling, trying to shove down onto Bucky’s finger, but a strong hand held him in place. The sound he made was embarrassing under different circumstances but in the moment he couldn’t be bothered.

“Not gonna hurt you.” Bucky resumed a slow, torturous pace of working the first finger in. He rubbed against Tony’s inner walls, coating them in lube, before crooking his finger.

The second finger had Tony’s mouth falling open, his cheeks flushed, as he panted and whined. His skin still glowed faintly as an almost painful, throbbing kind of desperation danced underneath his skin.

Now that Bucky was touching him the arousal from before had become near unbearable. It was an unstoppable fire that felt like it was going to burn him up completely from the inside. He would have done anything in that moment. He would have done anything to find release. It was luck that someone who wouldn’t hold it over him had touched him.

It could have been the man who cursed him. It could have been any number of people who would have loved to have Tony on his knees before them, willing to do whatever it took, to rid himself of the curse and the horrific need coursing through his veins.

He could have gone to that event, bumped into his nightmare scenario and they would have relished the control they had over him.

“There we go, sweetheart.” Bucky murmured as he worked both fingers back inside causing a low, keening whine to tear its way free from somewhere deep inside of Tony, “That’s it. Shhhhh, Tony, I’ve got you.”

The two fingers lazily fucked him, pumping in and out, before scissoring as they started to stretch him in earnest. He tried shoving down into them again, moaning and releasing gasping whimpers, but Bucky kept him still and continued working him open.

By the third finger Tony was a babbling, begging mess. He felt hot, tight and on the edge. There had never been a point in his life he’d felt like he was going to crawl out of his own skin quite like this.

He was beyond need. Beyond desperate. He was lost and gone and Tony _needed_ Bucky inside of him hours ago.

“Shhhhhh. You’re doing so good. You’re so beautiful, Tony, so perfect. I’ve got you. I’ve got you, sweetheart.”

Tony wanted to protest but he was arching into the feeling of Bucky rubbing against his prostate and pressing kisses against his too warm skin. A warm mouth wrapped around his aching cock and Tony almost lost it.

As he writhed under Bucky the super soldier kept stroking against Tony’s prostate until Tony came with a wail, his whole body tensing and then going completely pliant on the sheets.

It did nothing for the horrible burning need twisting inside of him.

“You did so good, sweetheart. There you are.” Tony blinked up at Bucky, pleasure fuzzy and still desperate, as fingers slipped from his loose hole. He didn’t protest when Bucky shifted forward and Tony’s legs were draped over strong shoulders.

He’d expected to be rolled over onto his belly but this position had Bucky staring down at him. Tony marveled at the pure, bright emotion on Bucky’s handsome face and in those beautiful eyes.

All of it was directed at him.

Affection, arousal, fondness and a kind of hunger that had Tony shuddering in anticipation. To have all of that focus on him was breathtaking. Then Bucky was pushing into him, his ass spreading to accommodate the thick length of Bucky’s cock, as he panted and gripped the sheets.

“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck.” Tony babbled as Bucky pushed forward, “Bucky…fuck. Please I need—”

He felt full and warm, completely caught in Bucky’s gaze, as Bucky’s hands traced over him and blue-grey eyes continued to drink the sight of him in. “You feel so good. You’re so hot…so tight.”

“Cause you’re so fucking huge.” Tony groaned but he was so far from complaining. He loved the feeling. Loved it so fucking much.

Finally Bucky started to move. It was lazy and slow, easy thrusts that sent jolts of pleasure flying through him. The mattress groaned lowly with each thrust and Tony could feel how he was already hard again.

It shouldn’t be possible but he couldn’t deny it. Tony clenched down on Bucky and moaned in satisfaction as his orgasm built once more.

Bucky kept thrusting into him, slowly increasing his pace, until Tony came with a broken cry to the feeling of Bucky’s cock nailing his prostate repeatedly. He almost didn’t notice when Bucky’s pace picked up, uneven and almost sloppy as Bucky neared his own orgasm, before Bucky came with a groan of Tony’s name and hips jerking up against Tony’s ass.

His legs were eased off of Bucky’s shoulders after a few seconds of uneven breathing. Bucky’s soft cock slipped free and earned a groan from Tony. Bucky remained between Tony’s spread legs. Their bodies pressed warmly together as Tony panted and tried pushing up against Bucky again.

It wasn’t as horrible, the screaming need burning through him, but it was still very much present. Tony wanted to sob. Instead Bucky curled an arm around him and rolled them, Tony coming to rest on top of him as he straddled Bucky’s waist and blinked at Bucky’s face.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you, doll.” He promised, voice rough and eyes intent. “Then we’ll get you cleaned up, something to eat and after that we’re going to sleep this off.”

Tony shoved his face against Bucky’s neck, breathing him in, as his body warmed with the curse and need started to twist inside once more. He would rather shower, eat and pass out curled up against a warm super soldier who smelled far too good.

“Do you want to be on top for the next one?” Bucky asked, hands idly moving up and down Tony’s sides. “Or do you want to do something else?”

In answer Tony shifted up to his knees, reached back and guided Bucky back inside. It was luck that he was already hard again and Tony distantly wondered if super soldiers recovered rapidly.

He slid down onto Bucky’s cock until his ass was completely flush with Bucky’s hips and he was blissfully full again. One metal hand and one flesh hand rested on his hips, gripping and holding him steady, as Tony started to move.

The first few rolls of his hips were easy but as the curse kicked back in Tony’s movements became more desperate and greedy. Pleasure and bliss had Bucky’s eyes dark. His scruffy cheeks were flushed and his lips were parted as he panted, hitching moans escaping as Tony moved on top of him with his hands braced on Bucky’s chest.

Tony stared, still working himself up and down, until he found himself moving forward to slot their mouths together in a hungry, desperate kiss. Fingers curled in his hair as they kissed and moved together, uncoordinated but still so fucking good.

He wished this had been their natural progression. The one Bucky had planned and the one he’d denied himself for months. It was a miracle that Bucky had actually felt the same way.

They broke for air, “Stop thinking.” Bucky pressed a kiss to his lips, short and sweet, as Tony shoved into each roll up of Bucky’s hips. “We have plenty of time. Stop torturing yourself, sweetheart. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

* * *

It had taken twelve hours for the curse to break; the glow fading to nothing in the middle of their last round. By the end of it Tony was a limp, fucked out mess. Bucky had needed to carry Tony to the bathroom where he’d helped him clean up, washing away the evidence of the hours they’d spent in bed, before asking Jarvis to take them to his floor where the bed was far cleaner.

Tony’s eyes had been hooded with exhaustion, his cheeks flushed with lingering pleasure as Bucky had coaxed him into eating a sandwich much like the one left down in the workshop.

“Good.” he praised, pressing a kiss to Tony’s head, as the genius slumped against him with a sigh. “You’ve been so good. So beautiful, sweetheart.”

“Can we sleep now?”

Tony was adorable, half asleep and relaxed against him. The feeling of overprotectiveness wasn’t new but the powerful emotions coiled around it were. He wanted this, all of it, to belong to him. No one else should get to see Tony like this, no one should feel him against them like this, and Bucky tightened his hold.

It only had Tony snuggling into him more. A soft, content sigh escaped and he could feel how Tony had started to go lax with sleep. Bucky had to adjust his hold so he could pick Tony up, cradled in his arms like a precious treasure, as he trekked towards his bedroom.

He balanced Tony with one arm and used the other to pull the sheets back, placing Tony down and crawling in after him. It felt right, perfect, to have Tony’s back pressed along the length of his chest with their legs tangled together and Bucky’s arm curled around Tony’s waist.

The Soldier resting, quietly waiting, in the back of his mind hummed with contentment at the warm and steady weight resting against them. Bucky had made peace with his counterpart, something like a truce and an alliance formed through a need to coexist, but it was still relieving to know they were of a similar mind to the value of the man wrapped up in his hold.

It was under that contentment that Bucky could feel a simmering need for vengeance against the one who had threatened Tony’s life. He couldn’t force himself to disagree with the Soldier’s obvious intention.

Bucky managed eight hours of sleep, warm and safe, until he carefully extracted himself from the soft, warm bed. Nestled in the sheets Tony looked like he belonged there. He belonged in Bucky’s space. It was something Bucky had wanted to see for months but had held himself back wanting to wait for the right time.

Bucky reluctantly left Tony sleeping as he removed the soft lounge pants he’d been wearing. He dragged on most of his uniform and slipped from his room.

His destination was the holding cell that held the man responsible. The Soldier moved closer to the surface, seething and intent, as Bucky stalked into the cell. It hadn’t taken much to gain access; Maria Hill didn’t seem bothered to stop him and had in fact idly mentioned the door code after she’d gotten a look at his face.

“So who enjoyed an unexpected gift?” the man still had that smug, amused air about him and Bucky wanted to smash his face in. “Some random civilian? A reporter? One of those bloodsucking vultures trying to get into his bed?” green eyes were lit with a vicious kind of interest, “Someone else? I know he had some event he was supposed to go to that night. Plenty of people to—”

Bucky’s metal hand curled around an easily broken neck as he pressed the man up against the hard wall. Fingers scrambled against the metal, trying to pry him away, as he pulled a knife from its holster and moved it up between the man’s legs. Immediately the body in his hold froze like a startled rabbit, eyes already starting to bug popped wide, and every single line of the man’s body radiated fear.

His lips curled in dark amusement as the Soldier surged forward, fury and vengeance his sword, to lean close.

“Give me a reason.” He breathed, voice a low and dark purr, as he watched a bead of sweat roll down the side of the man’s face. Lips trembled with hitching breaths and the fingers clutching at his wrist jerked but the man didn’t move. Instead he hung there, struggling to breathe, but completely still for fear of the knife cutting something valuable. “Go on. I dare you.”

The only sound was a sharp inhale and then a wheezing, whining kind of gasp.

“I would love nothing more than to move this knife to the left until you are howling, completely castrated. Then I’d take you apart. Piece by piece. Until you were begging me to end it.” He leaned close, fury still driving him. The Soldier very much in the front now and sharing the moment with him. “Then I’d use your own weapon against you. I wonder if your death would be as painful as you claimed it would be.”

The eyes staring at him were filled with horror and Bucky could feel the body in his hold trembling violently. He heard the door to the holding cell open and a glance back revealed Maria Hill, stance casual and relaxed, as she watched him.

Bucky thought about it. He truly thought about going through with the first half of his threat but he stayed his hand. Despite everything Tony wouldn’t want him to bloody his hands with the life of a man already in custody.

“Everything alright, Sergeant Barnes?”

He tightened his hold, knife moving away and back to its holster without a glance, as the body in his grasp started to jerk and struggle once more. “If you _ever_ come near Tony Stark again it will be the last mistake you ever make. You’ll die screaming.” It was the Soldier growling out the threat, eyes hard and face murderous, as the man pissed himself and passed out.

His hand let go and the man slumped unconscious on the floor. “Now I am.” He stepped away and watched Maria give him a nod of approval.

“Is Tony alright?” she asked when they stepped out of the room and the door locked once more. “I would have alerted him sooner but Blackstone kept it close to the chest until it set in.”

“He’s resting.”

It was clear he didn’t have to say who had touched Tony or who had helped him through the curse. “Good. You don’t have to worry about him.” She indicated the closed door, “He’s going to be transported to a secured facility tonight.”

Bucky nodded as they walked down the hallway. The Soldier had settled back, pleased and smug in the knowledge that he’d successfully gotten his point across, while Bucky focused on the woman walking next to him.

“Thank you.”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

They parted ways, Maria heading down a different hallway, before he continued on. The anger and the flash of fury had banked, his need to protect and avenge sated for the moment, as Bucky headed back to the Tower where Tony rested fitfully.

He’d had a soft spot for Tony after the first time the genius had wondered into the communal kitchen, sleepy-eyed and ruffled, muttering calculations and glaring petulantly at the coffee machine when he found it empty at six in the evening. Tony had stirred up protective instincts he’d thought long dead since HYDRA had programed the Soldier into existence.

That soft spot had gradually developed into an unwavering need to protect and care for Tony. He made multiple trips down to the workshop with food or coffee. There were late nights that found him carrying a sleeping genius to bed and missions where he’d focused intently on Tony just as much as Steve as he picked off threats from above.

It was only natural that he’d fall in love with Tony after listening to Tony as he talked excitedly about a new invention or waved a wrench at DUM-E with a half-hearted glare directed at the bot. It was even easier to fall when Tony would end up pressed against him when the team managed to congregate for a movie or when Tony would let him steal food off his plate while he gestured with his fork as he spoke.

Little things, unimportant to most, about Tony had caused him to fall further and further in love with him. It was one of the first things he’d wanted for himself since escaping HYRDA and he’d wanted to do it right.

At least he still had time. Tony had mumbled it against him in the shower, the curse completely gone from his system, as Bucky had carefully cleaned them both.

Bucky stepped into his bedroom and took in the sight of Tony curled around a pillow, the soft sound of his breathing filling the room. It was like falling in love all over again. He found himself doing it every day. “Jarvis?” he asked lowly.

“Yes, Sergeant?”

“How is he doing?”

“Sir’s vitals have returned to normal.”

Bucky breathed a sigh of relief before moving to his closet. He stripped out of the Winter Soldier suit before he pulled on soft lounge pants and a worn shirt. Picking up the tablet on his nightstand he climbed back onto his bed, back against the headboard and hip near Tony’s head, as he brought up his digital library.

Next to him Tony muttered in his sleep, turned and pressed close to him. Bucky’s hand lowered and carded through Tony’s soft hair, idly massaging his head, as he selected a book.

In a few days he’d take Tony on a date. He wanted to do this right. They both deserved to have something good and he knew that’s what this was. Something good. Something right after a long line of things wrong.

“Bucky.” Tony mumbled as his fingers ended up curled in the fabric of Bucky’s pants.

A small smile pulled at Bucky’s lips. His fingers kept moving as Tony went boneless once more with a gentle sigh.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still getting a feel for WinterIron as well as writing for Tony and Bucky but out of all of the tropes to write for them it was hard to resist the 'fuck or die' trope. It was just a matter of deciding how to set it off and creating some petty villain (the scene with the WS briefly making an appearance was a bit unexpected...but the story took me where it did).
> 
> I couldn't resist making the curse visible...then when I had him glittering I couldn't resist the temptation to make a few little jokes about the whole thing.
> 
> This was just supposed to be a fuck or die fic with copious amounts of smut. I don't know what happened. I ended up a bit lost in Tony's headspace and he, of course, had a huge problem with worrying about Bucky's consent and ability to make his own choices.
> 
> Once again I hope you all enjoyed this one!
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://the-winter-writer.tumblr.com)


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